


Technology

by Bishie Huntress (Artemystic)



Series: 2015 NaNo Prompts [6]
Category: Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen, Sci-Fi, Some angst, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-17
Updated: 2016-01-17
Packaged: 2018-05-14 10:12:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5739751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Artemystic/pseuds/Bishie%20Huntress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ed and Al find a survivor or two.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Technology

**Author's Note:**

> Seriously, I suck at summaries more than I used to, and that's saying something. XP
> 
> I hope you enjoy my sci-fi AU! I'd love to hear your thoughts on it. =)

### Technology

“Al! Heads up!” Ed called as he tossed his blaster in his brother’s general direction before blocking a chimera-bot with his plasma blade. With his free hand, he pulled out his second blade, activating it with a flick of his thumb. It hummed and Ed swung the glowing weapon with satisfaction. He much preferred to fight this way.

Al twisted to avoid another bot and leaped high into the air, snatching the plasma blaster. “Thanks, Brother!”

“Showoff,” Ed muttered, grunting as he buried his left blade deep into the bot’s power core, simultaneously blocking another with the right.

Two bots toppled over, felled by Al’s expert shots. “I heard that!”

“Good. You were supposed to!”

Sufficiently armed, Al finished off another bot in short order and turned to the next one. Working together, the brothers made quick work of the rest of the bots.

“Finally!” Ed exclaimed, breathing hard. “I thought they’d never stop coming!”

Al tucked the blasters into holsters strapped to his thighs. “Nine,” he said.

“Damn it! Eight.” Ed kicked the bot laying at his feet, stabbing it through the core processor when it twitched. “Eight now,” he corrected. “Why do you always get more than me?”

“Ranged weapons take them out from a distance,” Al explained for probably the hundredth time, ignoring Ed’s _duh_. “You waste less time having to block and dodge and try to get around them. Well, I do.” His grin was smug.

“Yeah, but… it just feels so impersonal.” Ed walked around, making sure the rest of the bots were disabled, kneeling occasionally to grab a plasma cartridge and toss it to Al.

“Brother, they’re _robots_.” Al caught each cartridge and slipped them into his belt pouch.

“I know that, Al.” Ed deactivated his blades and tucked them away. “Come on. We have a real son of a—“

“Brother!” Al exclaimed, cutting him off.

Ed sighed loudly. “I can swear if I want to,” he said.

“Not that, Brother. Come here!” Then, in a softer voice, “Come on, I’m not gonna hurt you.”

“Al,” Ed said, raising an eyebrow and turning, “I know you’re not gonn—“ He stopped when he caught sight of what Al had seen.

“A kitten? What’s a kitten doing here?” Ed crouched down next to Al. The kitten in question was huddled under a twisted piece of sheet metal in the surrounding wreckage.

Al shrugged. “Come here, kitty!” He wiggled his fingers enticingly.

“And why do you always seem to attract them?!”

“I don’t know, Brother,” Al said, straightening. He’d successfully coaxed the kitten into his arms and was holding it to his chest and cooing. Ed made gagging sounds at all the _cute_ happening.

“Look, I dunno how to tell you this, but that kitten is not coming with us,” Ed said firmly, standing again.

“Ed! Where else is it going to go?” Al asked, squishing the kitten. It mewled indignantly.

Ed shaded his eyes and looked around at the barren landscape. There was only dirt and rocks as far as the eye could see, broken up occasionally by the wreckage of buildings like this one.

“I think I see something green over there,” he said, pointing vaguely at the horizon.

“Where?” Al said dubiously. “I don’t see anything! Besides, cats are carnivores, Brother.”

“Well, what are you gonna feed it, then? Your arm? I don’t think it’s gonna eat your protein bars.”

“It might!”

“A better question might be: where did it come from?”

Al was silent, thinking about that as he scratched the dusty cat between its ears. In the silence, there was a small sound.

Ed wrinkled his nose. “Did that cat just fart?”

“What? No! Brother, don’t be gross.”

“What was that sound, then?” Ed asked quietly, blade in his hand and thumb on the switch.

“I don’t know, but I think it came from over here,” Al said just as softly, pointing at the wreckage he’d pulled the cat from.

Ed crouched down and peered under the sheet metal, but it was too dark to see clearly. Slipping his goggles down over his eyes, he activated his thermal vision and looked around.

“Shit!” he said suddenly, jumping up and pulling the goggles down around his neck. He tucked his blade away and grabbed ahold of the sheet metal with his cyber arm. “Damn!”

“Brother, what is it?” Al asked, frowning in worry.

“There’s… a kid!” Ed grunted and gave the metal a shove, pushing it away to land on one of the dead bots with a crunch.

“A kid?” Al set the kitten down and rummaged in his pack.

“That’s what I said.” Ed started chucking smaller pieces of metal until he uncovered a girl who looked like she was four or five, with long brown braids and big blue eyes. She coughed, blinking at the sunlight.

“Daddy?” she asked.

“Sorry, kid. Not your dad,” Ed said. “Al, get your medkit over here already!”

“I’m here,” Al said, kneeling next to Ed. “Oh my.”

“Wh-who are you?” the little girl asked, eyes wide.

“My name’s Al, and this is my big brother, Ed,” Al said, pulling out some bandages. “He might be loud, but he’s harmless.”

“Hey!” Ed protested. “I’m a total badass!”

“Ed, watch your language in front of the lady!” Al scolded.

Ed crossed his arms and sulked. The girl giggled, but it sent her into a coughing fit. Al rubbed her back until she stopped and then set to work bandaging her head.

“Do you have a name?” he asked the girl while Ed went poking around the rest of the wreckage, looking for any other survivors.

“Mhmm. Daddy said not to tell it to strangers, but you guys are nice, so I’ll tell you. My name is Nina!” She held very still while Al finished bandaging her head and started checking for broken bones.

“Your daddy is very smart,” Al said.

“Do you know where he is?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“Oh…” Nina’s face scrunched up, but she bravely rubbed her eyes. She giggled a little when Al ran his hands carefully over her ribs. “That tickles!”

“Good, that means nothing’s hurt,” Al said. “Do you feel dizzy or sick?”

Nina shook her head and then put a hand up to it. “Maybe a little,” she said.

“Dizzy?”

“Yeah.”

Al frowned. “Do you feel like throwing up?” he asked, pulling out a pocket light and checking Nina’s eyes.

“No. Ouch!” Nina squeezed her eyes shut.

“Sorry, Nina. I need to check your eyes to see if you have a concussion.”

Nina opened her eyes again. “A cus—concussion? What does that mean?”

“It’s when you have a head injury and your brain gets hurt. Sometimes it bleeds inside, and that’s not good. May I please check your eyes?”

Nina nodded solemnly and gamely kept her eyes open while Al shone his light over them again.

“Your pupils are the same size,” he said, putting the light away.

“Is that good?”

“Yep!” Al stood, brushing the dust from his knees. “Let’s get you up. Do you think you can walk?”

“I’ll try.” As she stood with assistance from Al, Ed returned from his foray. He looked at Al over Nina’s head and shook his head. Al frowned, but smiled when Nina looked up at him. “I can walk,” she said proudly, as if she hadn’t been doing it for years already.

“Good job, Nina!”

The kitten chose that moment to demand attention, batting Al’s leg with a paw. Nina looked down.

“Alexander!” she cried. “You’re okay!”

“You know this little kitty?” Al asked, scooping it up.

“Yeah! I wanted a big dog I could ride around on, but Daddy said no. He got me Alexander instead.”

“Well, Alexander is a fine looking kitten. You obviously take very good care of him,” he said, handing the kitten over.

Ed snorted softly and rolled his eyes. The kitten was a bedraggled, dusty, half-starved mess. Al glared at him, and he shrugged.

“You got a mom, kid?” Ed asked, making his presence known.

“No, it’s just me an’ Daddy. And Alexander.”

“No other relatives?”

Nina’s forehead wrinkled as she thought about it. “I don’t think so,” she said at last. “I think Daddy said Mommy had a sister, but I don’t know where she is.”

“Well, our ship is this way,” Al said, taking her hand and turning away from the setting suns. “Why don’t we see if we can find out on the Database.”

“Okay. Maybe we can find Daddy, too!”

Ed knelt down in front of Nina. “Look,” he said, and paused. He looked helplessly up at Al, who shrugged. “Your dad, he’s… he’s not coming back.”

Nina’s eyes went very wide. “He left me?” Ed could see the tears swimming in those big pools of blue.

“No,” he said, and continued before Nina could get her hopes up. “He died when your home got destroyed.”

Nina looked at Ed, frowning. Then she laughed. “Silly. Daddy can’t die. He’s inda—inderstuctable.”

“Nina…” Al started.

“No!” she yelled, pulling her hand away and stepping back. “You said you don’t know my daddy, so you can’t know! My daddy’s fine!”

“Did your dad have real short hair and glasses?” Ed asked gently.

“Ye-yes. But so do lots of people!”

“Lots of people who live here?”

“No…” Nina’s eyes teared up again. “Y-you mean, he’s—he’s really dead?”

Ed nodded. “I’m sorry, Nina.”

Nina started bawling and threw herself at Ed, wrapping her tiny arms around his neck. Alexander landed on the ground with an indignant meow, and Al scooped him up. Carefully, as if afraid she’d break, Ed wrapped his arms around Nina.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice thick. “We don’t have any parents, either. It’s just me an’ Al.”

Nina sobbed harder, getting his neck all wet, but Ed couldn’t find it in him to pull away. Instead, he picked her up. “Let’s go,” he said quietly to Al, patting Nina’s back as she tried to comprehend never seeing her father again. Al nodded and led the way to their ship. Behind them, the suns kept a lowering watch over the wreckage of a home that would never be whole again.

 


End file.
